Media Homework 1/11/15

1)The media text that I have studied is The Shawshank Redemption (TSR). This text uses the todorovian narrative structure as in today's society most films do as it is an easy structure for an audience to follow which ultimately makes the film a lot more enjoyable for the audience. The structure consists of three main stages: the equilibrium, the disorder, the new equilibrium.

The equilibrium is introduced at the very start of the film, as we meet Andy, a white man in the Western Society of the 1940's. We know this to be the equilibrium of the film as during the opening credits we hear the lyrics - If this isn't love, then why do I thrill. These lyrics suggest that Andy is in fact in a happy marriage with his wife. This however is juxtaposed by dark lighting as Andy is sitting in the car which suggests to us that the happiness in Andy's marriage is soon to end.

The disorder is introduced in TSR to us as Andy is in the courtroom and he has just been told he will serve two life sentences for murdering his wife and her lover. We recognise this as the disorder as when the judge tells Andy this bad news the camera zooms in on Andy's face and we see his eyes widen and his jaw slightly drop which suggests to the audience this is horrific news for Andy.

The new equilibrium in TSR is shown to us after Andy finally escapes from prison and Red goes to meet him at a beach in Zijautenejo. We as an audience are told this is the new equilibrium as when Red is approaching Andy the camera cuts to an aerial view which slowly pans out to show us a wide open space on the beach and the large blue sea. This shows us this is the new equilibrium as all we can see is large open spaces which represents freedom which it represents that Red and Andy are now liberated from the prison.

2a)In our media text TSR we have explored the representation of women in the film. TSR represents women as treacherous and disloyal. We are shown this in the scene in which we see Andy's wife at her lovers house about to engage in sexual intercourse which means she is cheating on Andy and having an affair with another man (her lover).

We also looked at the representation that African-Americans are inferior to White people which is shown in the scene where Red states that he's - The only guilty man in Shawshank.

2b)

Just before Red is about to be released from prison, he is sat in front of a group of what appears to be the authorities of the prison. Red is applying to leave prison. Red is the only African-American man in the room. He then says - There's not a day gone by I don't feel regret. This shows that the directors are portraying African-Americans as the guilty people. Every other prisoner in the prison is white, and they each are said to be innocent, on the contrary Red (the only African-American in the prison) states that he in fact is guilty to Andy when they are in conversation. This suggests to the audience that White people are superior to the entire African-American race. As Andy is entering the prison Red and his 'gang' are betting on who is going to break down in the prison first. Red spots Andy and describes him as - The tall glass of water with a silver spoon up his ass. This suggests to us that Red immediately views Andy as superior to him, as Andy is a hard-working banker with a good education which is opposite to Red and he is unlikely to have had any education, given the time period. Ultimately the following scenes just described suggest that the directors are representing African-Americans inferior to White people.

At the very beginning of the film, we see Andy's wife about to cheat on him with her lover, in this scene she is wearing a bright red dress. The colour of this dress connotes lust, love, blood and anger. The colour red can also act as a warning sign to audiences or even characters within the text. By placing the character of Andy's wife in this dress he is suggesting to the audience that she is a potential danger to Andy and will later prove to cause Andy trouble somehow. The characterisation of Andy juxtaposes the connotations of Andy's wife's red dress as Andy appears as quite a cold character whereas the red dress suggests that Andy's wife is warm blooded. The other reference to Andy's wife in TSR is when the prisoner who actually killed Andy's wife and her lover is talking about he how he murdered them. He refers to Andy's wife as a - Tasty bitch. This suggests that her motives throughout her relationships were mainly lust based, so if she had gone off with another man, this suggests Andy was not satisfying her.